This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

January 17, 2013

Tens of thousands have attended the funeral in Dyarbakir, Turkey, for three Kurdish women activists shot dead in Paris last week.

Reports say up to 50,000 mourners joined the funeral procession in the predominantly Kurdish city on January 17.

One of the women killed last week was Sakine Cansiz, a founding member of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

The motive for the killings remains unclear.

But they occurred with Turkey engaged in talks with jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan aimed to end the decades-long conflict with the Kurdish rebels seeking autonomy in Turkey's southeast.

Celattin Demirtas, a prominent Kurdish politician, told the crowd on January 17 that the killings would not deter those seeking an end to the conflict, which has killed more than 45,000 people since the 1980s.